+1
Greeting everyone. This is my first posting. I must say that I'm quite bothered by the fallout over John Carter. Seams everyone around the world is scrambling to understand, and lay what convenient blame they can, on its failure. My confusion and frustration on the matter comes from the fact that I thought it was an excellent movie all around. Yes, it could have benefitted from following the source material closer, but the truth is not many movies survive the transition from written to visual medium.
Normally I can point to any movie's bombing and say that it is a direct result of a lack of marketing. However, Disney dumped millions into the marketing of John Carter. So, what then? I think the answer is the type of marketing.
Ask anyone who is a fan of Edgar Rice Burroughs, at the time of their publication, the John Carter series was just as popular as Tarzan, perhaps even a bit more. Tarzan, though, gained more notoriety due to the advent of motion pictures. Who can argue with nearly 170 different actors playing the same literary character? Besides the recent endeavor, no actor had ever portrayed John Carter. So...unless someone had actually read the books, how could they know anything about the character?
Hollywood at large seams to think that if they throw millions of dollars into creating trailer leading up to the release of a film, that's all the marketing needed. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth, and in the case of John Carter, at the risk of being cliche, the proof is in the pudding. Disney should have bankrolled a series of three, possibly four, hour long progressive specials on the history of John Carter, and re-introduced him to the public.
Trailers are good, they serve a purpose, and ordinarily an excellent marketing tool. Honestly, other than whatever movie I've gone to the theaters to see, they're half the reason I go to the movies in the first place. The point is, some material need more. Another prime example, in my opinion, that could have benefitted from more than trailers: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.
So tell me what you think.